The Stockport County Wordsearch & Activity Book

Wordsearches, Colouring and a County Quiz for young Hatters fans!

Written by Phil Brennan Illustrated by Ric Pennington

The book is available here: The Stockport County Wordsearch & Activity Book – Victor Publishing

'What if I don't make it?' is a short football story aimed at children under the age of 11.
 

The book is available in either boy or girl format and can be tailored to suit any football club at any level from grassroots to Premier League.
 

It tells the story of a youngster who wants to play the beautiful game but is lacking in the basic skills required. Having suffered at the hands of poor-quality coaches he/she finally finds the ideal coach to improve his/her game.
 

The idea of the book came after I had written the original poem along with a couple of others, whilst taking my ‘coaching badges’. All were aimed at teaching parents the right type of environment and which type of coaches they should be allowing their children to learn the game around.

My mate Rob Purdon provided a couple of illustrations to go with the first few lines and before we knew it, we had produced a book.

As we were both FA qualified coaches, we felt that the book reinforced the FA message regarding the football education of our youngsters and contacted several junior football clubs across the North West and offered it to them in both boy and girl versions.

The book was in the colours of the specific club throughout, with a club crest on the front cover and had a page at the back which could be personalised to each individual club if required.

We were approached by Huddersfield Town FC who took copies to sell in their club shop too.

The book is available in the colours of YOUR football team by request from  Victor Publishing – Victor Publishing 

Tangerine Dream is a fun journey through the decorated history of Blackpool FC, aimed at the younger generation of Seasiders.

The book tells of the all the great highs that Blackpool have achieved during their history, League Titles, Cup wins and promotions all brought to life by the great illustrations provided by Rob Purdon.

The idea of writing the book came after the club had finally come through a dreadful period in the club’s recent history, with courtroom wrangles between the clubs former owner always in the news.

With the former owner removed from the club, Blackpool supporters had returned to Bloomfield Road in their thousands, the book was launched at the end of the 2018/19 season at the Club Community family fun day.

The book is available in print from  Victor Publishing – Victor Publishing  

Granny’s Galactic Garden is a story of how twins Karl and Tilly discover that the old bus shelter in their Granny’s back garden is the stop for many mysterious visitors. The book as always is full of great illustrations provided by Rob Purdon.

The book is available from  Victor Publishing – Victor Publishing 

Football, Football, Football!
By Phil Brennan and James Richardson

Lizzie longed to play football like all her friends but didn’t have the confidence to try, that was until Dad lent a helping hand and helped her fall in love with the beautiful game. 

The book is available from  Victor Publishing – Victor Publishing 

I teamed up with an old mate Richard Clein during the first 'lockdown' as we put together our ideas for a new children’s book about a couple of gnomes living in lockdown.

‘Stay at Gnome - A Lockdown Tale’, which features Boris Johnson as head gnome, tells the story of Gorwin and Keya as they followed the rules and stayed at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The book is aimed at children aged 5-9 and chronicles the gnomes time indoors and permitted daily exercise together while at the same time highlighting their hopes and dreams for life once lockdown ends. 

We wanted to mark the end of lockdown by bringing to life some of our shared experiences. After such a tough time for us all, we hope Gorwin and Keya bring a smile to people’s faces as they exercise with the nation’s PE teacher Joe Wicks and tune into press conferences with head gnome, Boris Johnson.

By creating our two gnomes, we think children will enjoy following their journey and that it resonates with their own experiences. It could prove a useful educational resource for schools and help teach future generations about the pandemic.

The book, is beautifully illustrated by my longtime mate Rob Purdon who once again displays his superb skills for another of my projects (One day mate...)

‘Stay at Gnome - A Lockdown Tale’ is available from Amazon and www.stayatgnome.co.uk